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| Sally Face | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Portable Moose |
| Publisher(s) | Portable Moose |
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Mac, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | Adventure, mystery, horror |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Sally Face is an indie adventure game with psychological horror and mystery fiction elements created by Steve Gabry a.k.a. Portable Moose. The game follows the titular main character Sal Fisher (otherwise known as Sally Face), a boy with a prosthetic face, who investigates local murders with his friends. The game consists of 5 episodes that were released between 2016 and 2019. Sally Face was also released on Nintendo Switch in 2021 and later on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2022.
Soundtracks
All of the soundtracks are made by Steve Gabry (Memories and dreams, (Sanity's fall) Singular, The calm, etc…)
Gameplay
Sally Face is a point-and-click adventure game that includes narrative, exploration, and puzzle-solving, combined with the direct control of the player via sidescrolling. Players are encouraged to talk to game characters and explore the environments to uncover hidden parts of the story and can return to environments in later timelines to see how things have changed. Each episode of Sally Face contains optional puzzles that reveal more of the story. The game also includes various minigames that break up the regular gameplay.
Plot
Note: This summary is told linearly, in-game the main plot of the first four episodes are told as flashbacks recounted by an older Sal.
Episode 1: Strange Neighbors
Sal Fisher, a 15-year-old boy with a prosthetic face, moves with his father to the Addison Apartments building in the town of Nockfell. The day before their arrival one of the other residents Mrs. Sanderson is murdered. Sal explores and meets the other tenants, including Larry Johnson, who reveals he witnessed the murder. Sal helps Larry find evidence that the murderer was one of the other tenants, Charley Mansfield. They present the evidence to the police and he is arrested. In the present, Sal recounts the story to his therapist, Dr. Enon, as he is on death row for mass murder.
Episode 2: The Wretched
Several months later Larry tells Sal that he feels a demon has cursed him in the building. Sal promises to help him and goes to Todd Morrison, a tenant their age who creates gadgets. Todd modifies Sal's "Gear Boy" to be able to detect supernatural spots and the three of them explore the building. On the top floor, which is under renovation, Sal enters a secret room, where he encounters the demon. Larry steps in to save Sal and eliminates the demon with a gadget made by Todd. In the present, Sal is taken away while Enon visits the treehouse, where he is scared by the ghost of Larry and is killed after he falls from the tree, breaking his neck.
Episode 3: The Bologna Incident
More than a year later Sal and his friends decide to investigate the strange-tasting bologna at their school. After discovering that it is produced by the math teacher Mrs. Packerton, who lives in Addison Apartments, Sal and Larry decide to break into her apartment. Here they find that the bologna is made of human meat and that Mrs. Packerton's husband is possessed by an unknown entity, who they euthanize. Their friend Ashley Campbell discovers a hidden trash chute but falls down it. Sal, Larry, and Todd find that the chute leads to an occult temple underneath the building, where they save Ashley. Mrs. Packerton is killed in a bus crash.
Episode 4: The Trial
Five years later a now-adult Sal lives with Todd in a house down the road from Addison Apartments, where they have spent the last years investigating the cult. Ashley comes to visit and she and Sal meet at a lake. That night, Sal receives strange messages from Larry and rushes to the apartments, only to find that Larry has committed suicide. Sal and Larry's ghost together work their way through the apartment building, where it is shown in the otherworld that all the residents are overgrown with a strange growth. When Sal reaches Terrence Addison, the owner of the building who never leaves his room, he finds that a fleshy green mass has possessed him since he was a child. Sal defeats the mass but an apparition of Terrence tells him he must kill all the infected tenants to end the infestation for good. Reluctantly, Sal obliges and murders all the residents. In the Lobby, he finds Todd, who has been possessed by the demon. Todd calls Ashley, crying and hysteric, and she calls the authorities. She arrives just as the police do, and witnesses a blood covered Sal, muttering and regretful. Sal is arrested immediately.
Two years later Sal is put on trial and, due to the cult controlling the jury and Dr Enon being replaced by a cult lookalike, he is sentenced to death. Although Ashley later finds proof of Sal's story in the form of a picture of Larry's ghost, she arrives too late to save Sal, witnessing his death.
Episode 5: Memories and Dreams
After Sal's death, Ashley continues Todd's investigations of the cult. She places explosives in the main cult temple, however, she is unable to bring herself to detonate them. Believing Sal is destined to destroy the cult she begins a ritual to revive him and slits her wrist to become a physical host for his spirit, temporarily keeping her alive and giving her special abilities. They go to the temple, where Ashley, Sal's spirit, and the ghost of Larry defeat "The Endless", the core entity of the cult, saving Todd from the cult's possession. Larry's ghost vanishes, leaving the others to grieve him. Even after the group's best efforts to save the world from the cult, it is later revealed in the unlockable epilogue, that though they managed to save the world, 52% of the planet's population had been consumed by the darkness.
Development
| 2016 | Episode One: Strange Neighbors |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Episode Two: The Wretched |
| 2018 | Episode Three: The Bologna Incident |
| Episode Four: The Trial | |
| 2019 | Episode Five: Memories and Dreams |
Sally Face was developed by the indie game studio Portable Moose, composed of solo developer Steve Gabry. The game took five years to develop. It was developed using the Unity game engine. While Steve first invented the concept and world of Sally Face around 2006/2007, development on the game did not officially start until 2015. Steve cites 90s cartoons and personal nightmares as his main inspiration. In 2016, an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, netting the game $13,697, allowed Steve Gabry to start working on Sally Face full-time. Sally Face, Episode One: Strange Neighbors was released August 16, 2016, on itch.io and December 14 on Steam. Episode Two: The Wretched was released July 7, 2017. Episode Three: The Bologna Incident was released on February 10, 2018. Episode Four: The Trial was released on November 30, 2018. Episode Five: Memories and Dreams was the final episode and was released on December 13, 2019.
Reception
Sally Face has been overall positively received by critics. Gamers Decide website put Sally Face in their Top 10 Best Indie Narrative Games. Nerdvana called it "a psychological horror masterpiece" and praised the game for evoking strong emotions. Adventure Gamers critiques Sally Face for being convoluted and for hiding important story elements behind optional puzzles but ultimately said it "is a worthwhile and wholly unique gaming experience that has to be played to be believed."
Awards
Winner, "Indie of the Year 2018" - IndieDB
Finalist, "Indie - Digital" - Let's Play PA 2017
Top 100, "Indie of the Year" - IndieDB
References
- Stockdale, Henry (January 12, 2021). "You Can Talk To The Dead Via Your Game Boy In Indie Horror Sally Face, Launching On Switch Next Week". Nintendo Life.
- Hentschke, Ted (December 9, 2019). "Sally Face Concludes Five Year Journey On December 13th". DreadXP.
- "Sally Face getting a physical release on Switch". Nintendo Everything. March 4, 2022.
- "[Top 10] Best Indie Narrative Games". Gamers Decide. October 16, 2020.
- Houston, Madison (July 10, 2017). "Sally Face Episode 2: 'The Wretched' – A tear-jerking adventure". Nerdvana.
- Aickman, Will (February 17, 2020). "Sally Face". Adventure Gamers.
- "Indie of the Year Top 10". IndieDB. December 27, 2018.
- "2017 Award Winners". Lets Play PA. 2017.
- "2017 Indie of the Year Awards". IndieDB.
- 2016 video games
- Adventure games
- Horror video games
- Linux games
- MacOS games
- Mystery video games
- Nintendo Switch games
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- Video games about cults
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- Video games about mental health
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